The Giants have acquired corner infielder Kevin Padlo from the Mariners for cash, according to announcements from both teams. The M’s had designated him for assignment over the weekend. San Francisco has optioned Padlo to Triple-A Sacramento, while the team had a pair of 40-man roster spots available after recently placing Mike Yastrzemski and Zack Littell on the COVID-19 injured list.
Padlo has just ten MLB games under his belt, but he’s now on his fourth different organization. Originally a fifth-round pick of the Rockies, he was dealt to the Rays as part of the swap saw Jake McGee and Germán Márquez head to Denver. Padlo was in the low minors at the time, and he spent the next few seasons climbing up the Tampa Bay system. His minors tenure was a bit up-and-down, but he had an excellent 2019 campaign split between the top two levels.
That strong showing against high-level pitching set Padlo up to reach the majors for the first time last season. He debuted in April and appeared in nine games but spent most of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A Durham. He struggled to a .194/.270/.379 line there, and Tampa Bay designated him for assignment in August. Seattle grabbed him off waivers, but his Mariners tenure consisted of a lone pinch-hitting appearance during a game in Arizona last September.
Padlo began this year with Triple-A Tacoma, where he’s gotten off to a slow start. He is hitting just .173/.317/.327 through 15 games, striking out in 36.5% of his plate appearances. The M’s bumped Padlo off their 40-man roster when they acquired outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the D-Backs on Saturday.
Over the winter, Baseball America slotted the 25-year-old as the #24 prospect in the Seattle system. BA praised his huge raw power and wrote that he’s athletic enough to play average defense at third base, but the outlet also raised questions about his bat-to-ball skills. Padlo is a .235/.330/.469 hitter in 621 career Triple-A plate appearances. He’s hit 31 homers with a robust 11.4% walk percentage in that time, but a 29.4% strikeout rate speaks to his hit tool concerns.
The Southern California native is in his final minor league option year. The Giants can shuttle him between San Francisco and Sacramento for the remainder of the season, if he sticks on the 40-man roster. He’ll add some right-handed depth to a third base group that is currently without Evan Longoria. Non-roster players Alex Blandino and Wyatt Mathisen are also righty-swinging infielders with the River Cats, but both players have gotten off to tough starts in 2022.
At this rate, Giants might need to create a second AAA team
I caught Anthony’s misspelling “Pablo”, who knows maybe he’ll be the next “Pablo”..
It’s all about the depth charts…
I’m not sure I understand the logic for 40-man roster spots opening up because a player is out a few days on the light-cough-and-sniffles list.
Apparently they see something in Padlo, and when Yaz and Littell come back they’ll try to slip him through waivers, and keep him in the system. If he gets claimed, the Giants have lost nothing. FZ must think it’s worth a try.
I was getting at the decision by MLB to continue to allow 40-man roster shenanigans because a player is on the COVID list.
40 man “ shenanigans”are to the benefit of fringe players who wouldn’t get the major league pay though.
Pretty hard to fight against that no matter how you feel about the COVID cases.
Not everyone takes the pandemic as lightly as you.
Not hard at all to argue there are far too many players on a roster.
Is it just me, or did Kevin Padlo get a couple more paragraphs than needed?
Reminds me of Spanish class in high school when I needed to padlos essays
lol giants
Don’t understand this move. I thought villar and Williams played third. Longo?? Plus this guys numbers look pretty lame
It isn’t about him playing 3B this season. This is all about MiL depth. He’s only 25. He may never play 3B in a Giants uni, but, if they don’t lose him on a waiver claim, he might be developed into good a utility guy.
Maybe they’ll dfa vosler, and this guy replaces him.
He will now hit .330 on the year with 25 home runs and 90 rbis
The Giants way!
There’s nothing mysterious about this move. The Giants have a couple of extra spots on the 40 man due to 2 guys having covid. The guys come back, Padlo gets DFA’d and who knows. maybe no one claims him and they get minor league depth for free. As usual with Farhan, the guy is an OBP machine, has power and is a good defender at multiple positions.
If you look into the future, the G’s will trade for someone eventually, they will possibly have to DFA Vosler and he will get claimed – so they’ll need another 3rd baseman. Villar will be at Richmond most of the year. Williams is a Swiss Army Knife.
And if the Giants weren’t one of the the best teams in baseball, this would be a one paragraph article, but good for Padlo for getting some limelight.
Had literally just typed the dfa vosler comment, didn’t read enough of the comments. We see what some others don’t!
FZ is always on the look out for those diamonds in the rough. Mixing metaphors, you have to kiss a lot of frogs looking for those diamonds.
I managed against Kevin in Little League and Pony baseball several seasons. Also coached him in All Stars one season. He’s an amazing athlete and a good guy. Although I’m a Dodgers fan I sure hope the Giants coaches can work their magic and get him going.
Good luck, Padlo!!
Batting under .200 in the PCL is really bad
So hard it should be considered a skill.